e might label this instance of pleading on the part of the biblical centurion “intercessory prayer,” or we could call it “advocacy.” However, personally asking Jesus to cure someone seems different from asking Congress or a state legislature to ensure health care resources for the poor, an activity we call advocacy today. Yet there is a parallel between the two actions. Pleading for another, wh...

Paul Robeson Park in Los Angeles County was often the designated location for Eid al-Fitr, the obligatory group prayer and celebration following Ramadan, the Islamic month of fasting. Families, predominantly African American, would begin arriving around 7:00 am dressed in their best Eid clothing. Well before the crowd began to trickle in, plastic tarps would be positioned in straight rows so th...

Spiritual practice, such as prayer or meditation, is associated with focusing attention on internal states and self-awareness processes. As these cognitive control mechanisms presumably are also important for neurofeedback (NF), we investigated whether people who pray frequently (N = 20) show a higher ability of self-control over their own brain activity compared to a control group of individua...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effect of prayer on anxiety in cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. METHOD Quasi-experimental study, with pre and post-intervention. Twenty patients admitted to treatment of continuous intravenous chemotherapy were recruited. The volunteers were evaluated through interviews using a questionnaire of sociodemographic, clinical and spiritual characteristics, the Ind...

BACKGROUND Mothers' existential dimensions in the transition to motherhood have not been described thoroughly. They might experience disruption and new perspectives in existential ways and this may especially be the case in preterm birth. The aim of this study was twofold. First we investigated the existential dimension of motherhood transition in a secularized context, through practices of pra...

A 60-year-old Muslim man was admitted to the Dhaka Hospital of ICDDR,B with an exacerbation of his chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Incidental hyperpigmented skin lesions were noticed overlying the dorsum of his ankles, knees, and elbows. Such asymptomatic areas of thickened, lichenified and hyperpigmented skin are called 'prayer marks' and are well-imprinted on the knees, ankles, and for...